Toward a comprehensive perspective on hubristic leadership – An aggregation of cross-disciplinary evidence and roadmap for future research

A growing body of literature reveals that the emergence of hubris is by no means a rare phenomenon in leadership contexts. Despite having been repeatedly proven that hubris has both beneficial and detrimental manifestations in leadership behaviors, its positioning as a harmful cognitive bias continues to echo across disciplines. To unify the fragmented hubris tradition, this paper synthesizes existing literature and identifies three perspectives on hubristic leadership: an innovation perspective, an internal coordination and commercialization perspective, and a risk management perspective. The aggregation of these perspectives into a unifying theoretical framework indicates that the type of leadership behavior together with the predictability of its outcomes account for the ambivalent manifestations of hubris across leadership behaviors. Future research opportunities are discussed on this basis.     

What is a Healthy Sustainable Built Environment? Developing Evidence-Based Healthy Built Environment Indicators for Policy-Makers and Practitioners

Abstract

Healthy built environments place people and communities at the heart of urban planning, encouraging decision-making based on human health, well-being and environmental sustainability. This paper describes the development of a set of indicators to assist in this endeavour—by translating and linking the research evidence base with policy-makers and other practitioners. The paper describes how the indicators were chosen, contextualized and subsequently structured to maximize useability for urban planners and health professionals working together to improve community health and neighbourhood sustainability.     

Quo Vadis? Suggestions for future corporate governance research

In this paper I first review the basic tenets of agency theory and theory of managerial capitalism as well as some of the major research in these areas then suggest for areas for future research that go beyond the extant empirical work. First, I suggest that it would be useful to reconsider the basic nature of the agency relationship, taking into account that while equity holders can be considered the principal, the board of directors may be more realistically in need of agent-like controls. Second, the complementary or supplementary nature of the monitoring/incentive alignment relationship has been shown theoretically but the empirical evidence is equivocal and needs future investigation. Third, there has been very limited research on the construct validity of archival measures of the sort used in agency theory. This requires the use of methodologies outside those of the more conventional type used in agency theory (i.e., from economics and finance). Finally, agency theory development would profit greatly by more extensive use of research methods such as laboratory studies and survey methodology and the integration of concepts such as personality and control processes.

Time for a revival? Public policy implementation: a review of the literature and an agenda for future research

This paper argues that there is not a vigorous contemporary literature in the UK which addresses implementation studies as part of the public policy process, whereas this is not the case in the USA. A review of the literature is presented, and a critique of the more traditional thematic groupings used to review the literature is given. A revised thematic review of the literature is presented based on the four themes of: (1) the role of knowledge and learning in policy implementation; (2) the processes of policy implementation; (3) the role of actors and agents in implementation; and (4) the role of bureaucratic discretion. The paper argues for a revival of research into public policy implementation and suggests a research agenda for the future which can use the aforementioned themes from the literature.     

What is the future of work? A science mapping analysis

This article aims to systematise and provide a structure for research into the Future of Work (FoW). We used SciMAT to conduct a science mapping analysis based on co-word bibliographic networks. The Web of Science (WoS) database was used for article retrieval, and a total of 2,286 documents were identified from 1959 to 2019. Our results are counterintuitive, as concerns over satisfaction, leadership values or corporate social responsibility (CSR) appear alongside traditional human resource management (HRM) themes, such as organisational commitment or careers, as well as more current FoW themes, such as the impact of technological change on employment, wage inequality, vulnerable workers, telework or talent management. In addition, we offer a classification of the most prolific FoW research themes and challenges into technological, social, economic and political categories.     

Just how multi-level is leadership research? A document co-citation analysis 1980–2013 on leadership constructs and outcomes

The use of multi-level theories and methodologies in leadership has gained momentum in recent years. However, the leadership field still suffers from a fragmented and unclear evolution and practice of multi-level approaches. The questions of how and to what extent multi-level research has evolved in both leadership phenomena and leadership outcomes, and which informal research networks drove this evolution, remain vastly unexplored. In this study, the extent of literature published between 1980 and 2013 is analyzed using a document co-citation analysis and invisible colleges' framework. This allows us to map the evolution of the multi-level intellectual structure of the leadership field. Specifically, we identify a number of distinct colleges – their conceptualization of leadership and outcomes – and trace their evolution paths over thirty years. We find a considerable fragmentation of the field, with the usage of multi-level leadership conceptualization mostly embraced by more peripheral clusters. Finally we discuss implications for further research with regard to a set of distinct trajectories for the future evolution of multi-level approaches in the leadership domain.     

What Management Style is Considered Best for a Team-Based Organization and Why?

The paper reviews various styles of management that are commonly employed for managing team-based programs and projects in many manufacturing industries. It analyzes the characteristics of each style with respect to the needs for decomposing the goals into smaller chunks in a team-based organization or in a program. Three styles of management were considered at Electronic Data Systems (EDS) for this analysis. Based on the experiences of applying each style during various team-based programs at EDS, Ford Motor Company, General Motors, and Unigraphics Solutions accounts and from the varying degree of success achieved then, the paper points out which management style is well suited for managing this decomposed set of goals and why. It then analyzes which style is best suited for managing a team-based organization. As W. Edward Deming said in his book The New Economics, setting a particular numerical goal accomplishes nothing. Setting a method to achieve a common set of consistent goals is important. Clear and consistent set of decomposed goals provides a `constancy-of-purpose.' Without a common subset of consistent goals identified for each concurrent team (decomposed from its original sets), the product development teams do not know what is expected from each other and how to accomplish the tasks concurrently. Finally, the paper discusses why a management style, which is based on a set of constancy-of-purpose (governing) principles, is considered superior for managing a team-based organization.     

What is the board of directors good for?

The history of corporate crisis in recent years indicates that the present method of operation of boards of directors is inadequate to deal with crises or influence events. Whether the remedies lie within the present structure or whether they should be found by establishing a new system is the challenge facing the corporate world and the academic business school. If, however, remedies are difficult or impossible to find, then at least the limitations of the boards of directors should be made clear.     

Management research in the Arab World: What is now and what is next?

Given the significant political and socio-economic transformations occurring in the challenging yet under-researched Arab world nowadays, this study seeks to (1) systematically review the literature in the leading mainstream management journals; and (2) develop a future research agenda that would enhance our understanding of the region. To do this, we conducted a systematic review of 176 published management studies (2000–2016). Our thematic analysis revealed three overarching themes. These were (1) avenues for economic development and improved performance, (2) leveraging and adapting to changing local institutional contexts and (3) overcoming legitimacy concerns/barriers in the Arab world. Our recommendations on the future research agenda of these themes were intended to provide key insights for researchers and managers interested in proactively contributing to the development of a timely research agenda for these promising markets.     

A future for fishing?

This article outlines the potential in the fishing industry viewed from the present. The author argues that current methods are still relatively inefficient and that increases of 50–100 per cent can be expected in the next 10–20 years. Further that these larger catches can contribute markedly to world protein requirements. The article includes consideration of system fishing and concludes with a picture of the British fishing industry being among the most advanced in the world.     

Where is context? Advancing status research with a contextual value perspective

Most of the numerous studies on social status over the last decade have focused on how individual characteristics influence status attainment and effects, while much less research has examined the role of context in status dynamics. Given how important and pervasive contextual values are in all types of status hierarchies and all aspects of social life, studies on contextual influences are crucial. In order to spur more research on this critical factor, we review existing theories and empirical findings on the antecedents and effects of social status and closely inspect the untested underlying assumptions of the most prominent theory in status research: the functionalist perspective. We aim to expand the functionalist perspective by incorporating the importance of context and proposing the contextual value perspective. We discuss the different influences of cooperative versus competitive relationships—as an example of contextual factors—on status conferral and experience. We also examine the implications of the contextual value perspective for new and promising directions in status research.     

What makes leadership,leadership? Using self-expansion theory to integrate traditional and contemporary approaches

Numerous traditional theories and paradigms of leadership purport to describe what leadership is. It is difficult to reconcile these traditional approaches, however, if each one alone, independent of the others, is viewed as capturing the actual identity of leadership. In this article, we take an integrative view of traditional approaches to leadership. To do so, we first identify some underlying ideas common to them. Next, we explain how these underlying ideas lead us to a fundamental theory about close relationships—that is, self-expansion theory, which refers to a psychological process in which an individual incorporates another into the self (Aron & Aron, 1986). We then review the traditional leadership theories to explore whether these theories may be linked through self-expansion theory and whether self-expansion may help to explain why boundary conditions have been discovered for all of them. In this process, we explore whether traditional approaches to leadership might also be linked with more contemporary approaches through self-expansion theory. Finally, we discuss the implications for future research and professional practice of the integration of traditional approaches to leadership.     

What is it like to work for a pharmaceutical company? Interview by Barbara J. Linney

Is working for a pharmaceutical company a career option you've thought about pursuing? In this column, Barbara Linney interviews physician executive Edward A. Kaufman, MD, about his 20-year experience working in the pharmaceutical industry. He talks about how he held a series of jobs for SmithKline Beecham's clinical labs business and lived in a number of places. He describes his background and how it made him an attractive candidate for the position, why he sought out the pharmaceutical industry, the nature of the work, and some of the projects that he has been involved in. He gives examples of physicians who have joined the executive ranks at GlaxoSmithKline and what made them such high-caliber candidates for top leadership positions.     

A future for the corporate planner?

Although not initiated by the event, it seems appropriate that this article is written on the tenth anniversary of the founding of The Society for Long Range Planning. It is entirely coincidental that Ansoff's book ‘Corporate Strategy’, which has evolved into the standard work on corporate planning, also appeared about a decade ago. This fortuitous coincidence has been further emphasized by the recent publication of another book from the same authority which introduces an entirely new factor into the future prospects for corporate planners. An attempt is made here to assess its implications.     

What jobs will there be in the future?

Physicians often ask what kinds of jobs there will be for physician executives in the future. Learn what two futurists and four recruiters think about this issue in this excerpt from ACPE's recent book: A Career Guide for Physician Executives.     

What explains cultural differences in leadership styles? On the agricultural origins of participative and directive leadership

Why do we observe either participative or directive leadership in organizations? I test an evolutionary-informed theory suggesting that organizational leadership is currently less participative (i.e., close supervision, rare delegation) among societies that used intensive forms of agriculture in the past. Intensification caused increased social complexity and skewed power distribution, promoting the emergence of directive leaders and eventually shaping followers' preferences for and perceptions of leadership. Combining evidence, secondary data, and methods developed in economics, anthropology, and applied psychology, I document a negative relationship between traditional agricultural intensity and followers' participative leadership prototypes. I then study the link between traditional agriculture and reliance on delegation to subordinates across firms. I discuss competing hypotheses, explore the interplay between traditional agriculture and organizational-level factors, and show that traditional agricultural intensity does not predict most other leadership prototypes and management practices. Implications for leadership theory–with a focus on evolutionary approaches–are finally discussed.